DC Comics Nubia Is Finally Getting Her Own Graphic Novel

Wonder Woman’s twin sister Nubia is finally getting a standalone graphic novel.

DC Comics just released a press statement announcing that Author L. L. McKinney and Artist Robyn Smith will be releasing an #OwnVoices story of Nubia for young adult readers. The book will be available everywhere February 2021 and they are taking pre-orders now. Yes! More Black girl graphic novels!

McKinney and Smith will be adding a fresh, new modern twist to Nubia. Nubia who is also Wonder Woman’s sister has never been in her own individual book and has mostly appeared in Wonder Woman’s stories throughout the years.

The graphic novel will follow a teen Nubia as she navigates a world filled with racism, school violence and a number of social issues that younger readers are impacted by today. McKinney is an highly acclaimed author and most known for A Blade So Black trilogy. She continues to advocate for equality and inclusion in publishing, and created the hashtag #WhatWoCWritersHear. This is the self-proclaimed blerd first book with DC Comics.

“What’s funny is I didn’t initially set out to pitch a Nubia graphic novel,” said McKinney. “I was invited to pitch something else, but I made the decision when writing the pitch itself to add in Nubia. I’ve been a fan since pretty much birth, and I’ve watched her get moved around and appear in various iterations, none of them touching me the same way her original one had. I mean, this was Wonder Woman’s twin sister, just as strong, just as fast, if not stronger and faster. And she was BLACK! So, I added her in to my pitch for the other project. I guess something about her stuck out to the team because they emailed me and essentially asked for a pitch about Nubia.

“Fast-forward and DC loved it. When the hunt for the artist began, I knew I wanted another Black woman on this project. DC was on board from the start and suggested Robyn, whose art I immediately fell in love with. Robyn has breathed life into this story and these characters, and it wouldn’t be half as powerful without her. Everyone loves Nubia, we all want to do right by her, by the readers that have been searching for her the same as I have. I hope fans walk away from this story knowing that first and foremost,” McKinney stated in the official press release from DC Comics.

Smith is a New York based artist by way of Jamaica. She’s known for her own minicomic The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town and for illustrating Jamila Rowser’s successful Kickatarter comic Wash Day. Nubia: Real One is also her first project with DC.

“As an Afro-Caribbean artist, I’ve always strived to center the Black community in the comics I make, so being hired to illustrate Nubia was a dream,” said Smith. “When I heard L. L. McKinney was the writer, I was even more excited. Working together has been great, especially since our artistic objectives seem to be the same: all Black everything. In Nubia, I wanted to focus my illustrations on creating something both light and emotionally resonant. Most of my work is heavily influenced by Harry Lucey’s Archie, so finding a way to incorporate that charm and joyful feel into a story centered around more serious issues was important to me. I hope fans reading Nubia feel the same sort of excitement I felt illustrating the characters and their beautifully crafted stories,” Smith added in the press release.

Check out some preview pages here.